Acts 22:22- 23:11
Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”
Sermon Transcript:
Good morning. Good morning. Okay. If you’ve ever tweaked your back, you’ll know why I am looking like I’m looking, and I’m hoping that’s not gonna be needed, but time will tell. I tweaked my back earlier this week and kept waiting for it to get better, and it started to get better, and then I did it again.
Um, it’s, it’s a tweak. It’s a muscle. I, I, I’m really okay. I just look terrible. Um, We had, uh, we had a group of friends over on Wednesday night for a dinner gathering, and, uh, that was probably the worst of it. And my wife said afterwards, she said, I just couldn’t get the visual of the old man in, up out of my mind.
That was definitely the low point of my week. All I’d like you to turn in our Bibles this morning as we’re looking at the Book of Acts. And, uh, by the way, I’m Pastor Mark. Um, great to have you here. If you’re newer here, um, and love to have you join with us as we, we open the word Acts chapter 22. We’re gonna look at verse 22 and then go down into a few verses in chapter 23.
Up to this word. They listened to him. That’s listening to Paul. Then they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth for he should not be allowed to live. And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks saying that he should be examined by flogging to find out why they were shouting against him like this.
But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the Centurion, who is standing by? Is it lawful for you? Tolog, a man who is a Roman citizen? And Uncondemned. When the Centurion heard this, he went to the Tribune and said to him, what are you about to do for this man as a Roman citizen? So the Tribune came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman citizen?
And he said, yes. The Tribune answered. I bought this citizenship for a large sum. Paul said, but I am a citizen by birth. So those who, who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. Immediately. And the Tribune also was afraid for, he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.
But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews. He unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to, to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them. And looking intently at the council. Paul said, brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day, and the high priest, Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law, you order me to be struck. Those who stood by said, would you revile God’s high priest? And Paul said, I did not know brothers that he was the chief, the high priest for has written you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.
Now, when Paul perceived that one part was Sadducees and the other’s Pharisees, he cried it on the Council Brothers. I am a Pharisees, his son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial. And when he had said this, a dissension rose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
For the Sadducees say, there is no resurrection nor nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledged them all. Then a great clamor arose and some of the scribes of the Pharisees party stood up and contended sharply. We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit of an angel spoke to him? And when the dissension became violent, the tribune afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into the barracks.
The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, take courage for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem. So you must testify also in Rome. Lord, we come to you this morning.
And God once again, we’re so grateful for the lessons you’ve given us in this amazing history record of the early church in the Book of Acts. Thank you Lord for the chance to journey with these men and women as they take the gospel forth throughout the empire and the lessons that are so relevant to us.
And Lord, you know my heart in this message. Um, I really pray that out of my weakness this morning, uh, truth would go forth, that we would have ears to hear, hearts to listen. In Jesus’ name, amen. Paul has landed on the shores of Jerusalem or of Judea and has made his way into Jerusalem as he’s done so he has.
Begun the final part of the Book of Acts. It’s actually one third, almost one third of the book. It’s a record of Paul being primarily in prison. He has moved from a role of offensive strategic involvement in starting churches, in in, in starting church movements to now he’s going to be held and there are 200 verses in the book of Acts that are talking about this and.
25% to 33% of the book are five trials that Paul’s gonna embark into. And not only was what Paul said, but what the Roman authorities respond to him. And we might ask the question why. I mean, why did we take so much time, Luke? In the leading of the spirit for you to keep this voluminous record about Paul in jail interacting with these Roman authorities.
It’s interesting that this is not the only time that Luke has done this. He has presented in the Book of Acts a number of situations where the Roman authorities are responding to the fledgling church. Just to quickly bring up the map on the map in the, these seven, these three, uh, starred locations, the first on the lower right is next to Ephesus.
In Ephesus, the town clerk, who is the, the mayor, basically declared the Christian leaders, Paul, among them innocent. Rebuke the crowd for public disorder and sent them all home in Philippi, which is the northern one up in uh, Macedonian. The magistrates actually apologized to Paul and Silas for having mistreated them as prisoners and came personally to the prison to escort them out in Corinth.
Over to the left in modern day Greece, Gallo, the proco of all of Aya. Refused even to listen to Jewish accusations against Paul and dismiss their case against him as a sedition, as a revolutionary. Luke is constantly emphasizing the Roman response to the Christian messengers and we, we might ask why. Why is it so important?
Why is he gonna record all these trials coming up? Why does he respond here in chapter 21 to 23, this Tribune. Uh, um, of the fortress there in Jerusalem who has a thousand men under him that are trying, Paul, that are, that are interacting with him, that are bringing the Jewish leaders in to ask him. S so much time talking about
the civil author’s response to the Christian messengers. I would suggest to you, as we’ve always said, as we go through acts. Everything that is in this book is chosen specifically by God into his messengers to record. It’s not a new angle for Paul, for for Luke. He has done the same thing in his. Record his history book of Jesus.
Of course, there are four Gospels. Matthew, mark, Luke, John. Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke. Luke also wrote the Book of Acts and as he told the history of the book of Acts and emphasized the Roman authorities’ perspective of the Christian messengers. So in the Gospel of Luke, Luke records more information about Jesus contact with.
The civil authorities than anyone else. For instance, he’s the only one that talks about how Pilate was convinced Jesus was not guilty of anything, and he sent him over to Herod. Herod had a similar response. Those things are recorded in Luke’s gospel. When we say, why is this so important? Why is it so essential?
To give information about Paul’s imprisonment and interaction with Roman authorities, and I would suggest it is clearly to show how Christians interact with civil authorities. It is a defense to the Roman emperors. It is a fence to a Roman perspective of Christians and viewing them, whether it is as sedition or insurrectionary or revolutionaries, but in it.
Luke gives us a picture of what it means to be a Christian citizen since Paul has landed in Jerusalem or in Judea and now made his way to Jerusalem in chapter 21, verse 17 to 26, we have seen Paul’s priority as he talks about, we’ve seen the display of Christian unity and the importance of it. Last week we looked at Paul as he was broad and, and I talked about Christian courage.
Today I’d like to talk about Christian citizenship.
Remember, in both of Luke’s letters, he addresses the same guy. It’s written to a guy named Theophilus Theophilus, as he calls him most excellent Theophilus. In both the book of Luke chapter one, verse one and Acts chapter one, verse one. He calls him most excellent Theophilus, which means he was a Roman dignitary.
He had authority. He was an individual of significance. His gospel and his record in Acts is primarily addressed to Romans, to Gentiles. He is not primarily wrote writing to people with a Jewish heritage. Certainly their record embracing Christ is here. He is particularly talking to those. Who are not living under Jewish leadership in Jerusalem and Judea, but to people who are living in a secular culture of Rome.
He is writing to a people exactly like 21st century Americans, and he is saying to us, this is what cist Christian citizenship looks like as modeled in the life of Paul and others. So this morning I’d like to think. About what God has for us in such a topic. We tend as pastors here at F C C to build our preaching and our teaching ministry, not around issues.
We feel led to go preaching through scriptures, books of the Bible, believing God. That what he tends to do is to time the truth of the scriptures to speak the issues of the day. He is remarkably relevant in doing that. I truly believe our text does that today. Christian citizenship is of vital importance to be understood.
There is not an arena of our culture more volatile than that of politics right now. It is the hotbed for much of the arrogance, animosity, and anger that is dividing us as people. It’s not surprising then that there is no arena of your life as a Christian that is being more scrutinized than how you think, speak and react.
In the political arena, our PRI priority allegiance is to a kingdom. The kingdom of Jesus Christ, not ultimately to a party, not ultimately even to our nation. It is to the kingdom of Jesus. The question is, what does a member of Jesus kingdom look like as a Christian citizen? It is crucial for believers to wrestle with this question if they hope to have a Christian witness and influence in this generation, and our passage gives us a script to follow as Christian citizens.
I’d like to highlight three things. Number one, these three qualities are modeled by a Christian citizen, our champion, the apostle Paul Number one, Christians hold their rights loosely. Secondly, Christians value the rule of law. And third Christians represent Jesus to their community. First of all, Christians hold their rights loosely.
We see this in Paul’s response to the Roman Tribune and an interesting thing that is recorded here and is not recorded other places. As we saw last week, this Roman Tribune has of a thousand soldiers has come charging down in with hundreds of his soldiers to break up the mob that was rioting and trying to kill Paul in the temple courts.
And as they have come through, one of the stairways out of the Antonio Fortress, which was the barracks there in Jerusalem of the Roman Legionnaires, as they come flying down in they rescue Paul. And in the midst of that scene, some interesting things take place. He is rescued, he speaks, the crowd has worked up all over again because he mentions going to the Gentiles and now he’s in the barracks.
And when they’re there, the Legionnaire, the, the Tribune says to his Legionnaires, strap him down, take the shirt off his back. We’re going to scourge him. To scourge someone was to inflict on them. Astonishing. Um, Retribution or particularly just torture to get them to confess. This flogging is called a flagellum.
It was done by a flagellum. It was a wooden stick and it had attached to it long leather straps and sewed into those rubber straps, leather straps where pieces of metal or, or broken pieces of bone, and they would stick out. And you took this thing and a big Legionnaire would just strip you down and just every time he swung, literally as he pulled back, he took a chunk of flesh.
Many people died from it. It was not uncommon to die if you didn’t die. You, you were literally maimed for life and it’s just to get information. And in the midst of this moment as he’s trying to get a confession, I wanna think about two quick things here. One, number one, what rights did Paul have? And secondly, how did Paul fight for those rights?
Not only here, but as a rule. What happens here is Paul says, I’m a Roman citizen. This was big. To be a Roman citizen was a position of honor. It meant you could vote, it meant you could hold, uh, office, and it certainly protected you from certain behavior. Of the police force or the military force.
Basically, you got to be a Roman citizen in one of two ways. One, you accomplished enough and were esteemed enough, and you could then either pay by bribe or or another exorbitant amount of money to be declared a Roman citizen. It was a formal process that you went through The more illustrious way. Was that you were actually born at a CI as a cinnamon.
The Roman legionnaire over a thousand soldiers, the tri, excuse me, the Tribune. He bought his, he had earned his way up. Paul says, well, I’m, I’m a son of Roman citizen. I am a Roman citizen by birth. Now, to tell you how significant that was, I’d just like to show up a couple of numbers. In the Roman Empire, there are estimated to be 45 million people at this time.
In the first century of that 45 million, no more than 4 million of the 45 million adults were Roman citizens, 9%. The overwhelming majority of them were near Rome. We’re now way out in the outskirts. We’re at the farthest distant eastern edge of the empire in Judea. Virtually no. Jews are Roman citizens.
They hate Rome. They want nothing to do with it. Paul is a unique Jewish man who has a heritage. His father must have been, or his grandfather or somebody prominent in business or or a legal work or something where Paul is a Roman citizen. This is a big deal. Few people in this eastern end of the Empire have it.
And certainly there is no expectation this guy has it. He has tremendous significance. He has creds. So how does he use his rights? Because on the other side, Paul has these tremendous credentials. He also has Jewish credentials, which he, we saw earlier, trained under Gamal appointed by the religious leaders, uh, to, to to, to be the attack dog towards the church, but he also has things in his life and ministry rights that were being denied.
On the other side, Paul faced tremendous injustice as a Christian. He’s beaten multiple times, stoned at least three times, run out of cities, arrested many times in most cities. He starts to get a following with his teaching and jealous Jewish leaders or or influence or other religious leaders or business people who are losing their business because of people turning from their idolatrous business and the selling of idols and other things.
They raise up and bring slanderous accusations against him. This is a guy who has been wronged over and over and over and over again. He’s been lied about. He’s been, he’s been slandered. So here we have this situation, a man who is utterly wronged. His rights pulled out from under him all the time, and he has tremendous power.
He’s a Roman citizen. He’s not only esteemed in the Jewish culture, he’s esteemed in the Roman culture. So how did Paul exercise and fight for his own rights? Well, he could do what he did here. He says, Hey, before you get that flag gone, remember I’m, I’m a Roman citizen and it is illegal. To try to get a confession out of a Roman citizen by torture.
The striking thing about this is Paul never does this. It’s actually why it’s so interesting that what happens here, he only does it one at a time. In all the years of his ministry in this passage, he’s doing it to save himself from probable death in the other one in Philippi. He actually is arrested with Silas.
They’re put in a prison. They’re, they’re beaten, not with the flatulent, but they’re beaten with clubs, so their backs are bruised. And buddy, he’s thrown in stocks overnight. He never says I’m a Roman citizen. And finally, when they’re releasing him from prison, he tells him, by the way, I’m a Roman president.
And they get the governor of the town and they come and they apologize for what they’ve done. He never uses it again. Paul did not play the power card almost ever in one case, just to save his life in the other as an after fact. To try to say, look, you better be careful in, in other Christians, you bring in here, you might get a Roman citizen again and do this kind of mistake stake.
We learned from Paul something very consequential,
his influence. Was in living the Gospel’s focus on being a servant, a humble truth teller in serving others, not fighting for his rights. He doesn’t even say, he even says to the Christians, look, I, you should be supporting me financially, but I’m doing my work. As I said last week, a tent maker was basically, you made tents for trips.
He was a, he was a mechanic in, in an RV factory basically. He says, I’m willing to do that. I’m not insisting on rights. I’m not saying, look, I’m your rabbi. You should take care of me. He’s saying I’m not. I’m not using the power card against the Roman government by saying, don’t tread on me, man. I am a Roman citizen.
This is really important for us as Christians, the mentality of. A feeling because we are persecuted as Christians, gives us the right to respond disrespectfully of saying, man, you gotta fight fire with fire mentality knows no support in the life of Paul or of Jesus. Yeah, but they’re taking our country away.
We’ve lost our Christian heritage, the principles that made our country what it was. These people with other faiths, other morals, other priorities, they’re ruining our country. Just be careful that what you are fighting for is what Jesus would, and be very careful that the way you are going about it is the way Jesus and Paul would a lot of professed evangelicals today.
Look a lot more like the angry Jews in chapter 22 than the apostles and his friends. What were they mad about? You are taking our nation away. You are taking our, our, our, our values away. You’re bringing Gentiles in as if they deserve to share what we’ve had. Just be careful because the spirit of the gospel as a Christian citizen is not my rights.
Secondly, I. Value of the rule of law here. Here’s Paul. He goes in. Now it’s interesting, the, the Tribune calls together the religious leaders. He has a forced meaning of the Sanhedrin, uh, the 71 members of the council. He troops Paul down and undoubtedly under big guard of Legionnaires, they come down the steps of the Antonio Fortress.
They walk into the court of the, uh, The, uh, the temple and then they go to a side chamber, which was where the Sanhedrin held their, their regular meetings. And as he comes before them, it is a group of 71 men that are made up of the high priests and members of his family that are made up of influential leaders in the city.
Business, merchants, um, leaders. It is also made up of scribes who were the, uh, uh, historians and students of the law. And it’s, it’s made up of different kinds of people. They are individuals. Two parties that are made up. They’re made up of the Sadducees, the Sadducees, with the liberals of the day. Sadly, the religious, uh, establishment, the chief priests and his family were Sadducees.
Yeah, they didn’t believe in a resurrection to eternal life. They didn’t believe there was an afterlife. They didn’t believe in angels. It says all this in our passage this morning. They didn’t believe in miracles in the Old Testament. They thought they were just stories. And then you had the conservatives, the the Pharisees and the Pharisees believed in a literal resurrection.
They believed angels were real. They believed that there were miracles that God had done and would do again. And Paul’s a Pharisee and Paul then plays this card. In order. He, he, he says, well, I’m here partly, and which was true for my belief in the resurrection. He’s trying to demonstrate, I believe, to the Roman authorities that the whole issue is theological, not political.
He’s committed no crime except holding different beliefs than the oppression, than his, his opposition to the Sanhedrin. But an interesting cha exchange takes place in verses two to five in chapter 23. It’s where Paul is saying, you know, I, my conscience is clear. And for some reason this just sets the high priest off.
And again, this is kind of a chaotic environment. 71 people, it’s an outdoor area. Uh uh, there are columns separating it, but it’s not a closed room. It was, there were people all around. It was somewhat cat. It was, it was the, you can imagine how many Roman soldiers are in the room. And so the high priest somehow signals to his guys and says, smack that guy in the face.
Whether it was a raised eye or just a mo, we don’t know. And Paul, whether because he has bad eyes, which tradition has it, he did or he just doesn’t pick up all that’s going on, who did it? ’cause he does know who the high priest is. He’s, he was one of his henchmen years before. But he looks on and he sees somebody signal this guy that slaps him and he addresses the individual that was in authority and wipes him out pretty clear.
He calls him a whitewashed wall, which meant you’re, you know, you’re this on the outside, but inside it’s like a grave. And, but then what happens? They said, would you revile God’s high, God’s high priest in verse four? And Paul said, I didn’t know brothers that he was the high priest for. It’s written you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.
You notice you didn’t say you shouldn’t speak evil of a high priest. That was true. The high priest was one of the civil leaders of the people, but he’s giving a recognition to authority and to the whole principle of law. In the way he responds and he looks at him now. Now think of who Ananias is.
Josephus is the Jewish historian of the first century, talks about Ananias in less than complimentary terms. He describes him as arrogant and proud, which was probably his best characteristic. He was cruel, selfish, dishonest, and given to injustice. Everything in a high priest and a governing leader should not be.
But Paul respected the position and he did so because he honored the law. In Romans 13, Paul wrote a letter and it’s to the Roman church interestingly, and Rome under the despotic Roman leadership, soon to be Nero, who will be the one that puts Paul and Peter to death? But God prompts Paul to write this in Romans 13, let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there’s no other authorities except from God.
And those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resist what God is appointed and those who resist will incur. Judgment for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you not fear? Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you’ll receive his approval for, he’s God’s servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid for He does not bear the sword in vain, for he’s the servant of God and Avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to God’s wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. Now, Ananias was that guy, but he did it terribly, awfully. But Paul still says, I have an obligation to even this man.
We have the greatest Constitution in the history of mankind, the greatest set of bylaws for a nation that has ever been formed. It gives us the opportunity to vote and to to hold our leaders accountable, and its incredible privilege. It’s a, to me, the greatest part of the constitution. Is that was formed by people at least a majority of whom that believed in an anthropology that was biblical, a view of humankind.
And that anthropology was this. The heart of mankind is tainted severely by sin. No one can be trusted with absolute power. No one, no matter how God lived there, JR. Or Tolkien, in the Lord of the Rings, is my favorite part about the Lord of the Rings, and I have a lot of favorite parts. But is he constantly makes this statement, no matter how good you are, no matter how honorable you are, no one was able to wield the ring of power.
It would always control them also. Ultimately, no one could be trusted with that. Our founding fathers built in a system of checks and balances. It’s an amazing system. They believed what Tolkien believed. That no one can be trusted with absolute power. Here’s the reality. As we think of governing leaders,
the most important responsibility is to uphold law, and there will be bad laws and there will be laws that are done improperly and unjustly, and they’re gonna have to be faced and addressed. But it doesn’t matter if someone is a Christian or a non-Christian, if they’re not upholding law. And I, I know this is gonna sound like I’m speaking to an individual and I’m really not trying to, I didn’t choose this text this morning, but I’m just saying this, that we have to, as Christians recognize that upholding the law is the ultimate role of government or of governors.
Christians must support the rule of law and Christians must respect authority leaders. You may have a president or a governor or something else. You can’t stand, there’s not one policy they have that you can line up and say, boy, that was a good thing he did, or she did, or, but to talk with nicknames and to talk disparagingly to, to post things that are mocking.
It just isn’t the way Paul operated, and this is a guy that had every cred. I mean, he was a very influential man. Even to the Romans, the way we speak, the way we process, the way we think as Christians is really important. He still felt ashamed when he spoke angrily or mockingly about his civil leaders.
The third thing is we are called to represent Jesus to our community. This really is the foundation to it all. It’s going to be everything we’re going to see in Acts 22 to 28. It’s why I think right here at the end of this section in verse 11, the Lord comes to me and he says, Paul, you’re gonna keep doing what you’re doing.
You’re gonna keep my representative, and right now you’re gonna go on a long road of trials and all this other stuff. But it’s always my ultimate goal for you, wherever you are to be representing me. And you’re gonna do it in Rome. The last thing is representing Jesus to our communities. Paul will lead the way in the early church in showing the way humility and gentleness in our lives is what that looks like.
I read a book about seven years ago. It was called The Patient Ferment of the Church. And basically it was written by a church historian. I had the privilege, uh, after I read the book, I was out in Indiana and through a mutual friend, I got to meet the author and talk with him. And it was a really cool experience because I love the book.
And basically it’s a book that is presenting what many other Christian historians have, have also expressed. And that is the fact that the reason that the early church. Profoundly impacted its culture. The reason so many people flocked to the gospel was not great preaching. It wasn’t great miracles. It was in this author’s word, the fermenting, fermenting, the, the, the yeast impact into the culture of the humility of Christians, that they responded in a way that nobody else had seen and nobody else could understand.
It’s Paul’s statement this way in Philippians 2 verse 14 and 15. Do all things without grumbling or disputing in order that you may blame, be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Why? Because among them, you shine as lights in the world.
How are you shining as lights of the world, as Christians? You’re responding without grumbling and disputing. You’re not known for, for fighting and, and, and, and, and, and intense discussions that typically end in anger or end in mockery. He said, that doesn’t shine any light to a culture that needs Christ.
Everybody understands that kind of treatment. Everybody understands power. The changed lives of people from anger, pride, dominance, and vengeance to gentleness, humility, servanthood, and forgiveness was the great apologetic or defense for the reality of the Christian life. I’d like to just read to you a few statements.
Years ago when I was on sabbatical, I did a doctor of ministry course in one of my largest courses. Was on the teaching ministry of the early church, and I had the chance to read every volume. That’s all of the writings from the first two centuries. Uh, there’s thousands of pages. I, I just had time and I was struck with what the early church held out as their defense for their beliefs.
And why people wanted to become Christians. And I’d like to just quickly read you a few statements. I don’t have them up and I apologize, but I’d like to read them to you. This was written by Justin Martyr and it’s called His first Apology. And of course, as you know, an apology in in those days didn’t mean we’re saying, uh, I I’m saying we’re sorry.
No, it was actually a defense. It was an apologetic statement. I do have those. What, how efficient? Okay. Alright. Justin. Marta, the first apology we who formally delighted in fornication, but now embrace chastity alone. We who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions now bring what we have into a common stock and communicate to everyone in need.
We who have hated and destroyed one another on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe. Now since the coming of Christ Live familiarly with them and we pray for our enemies.
Ous presented a thing called a plea for the Christians. Here’s what he said. But among us, you’ll find uneducated persons and artisans and old women who, if they are unable in words to prove the benefit of our doctrine. Yet by their deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasions of its truth.
They do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good works when struck, they don’t strike again when robbed. They don’t go to law. They give to those that ask of them and love their neighbors as themselves. This is what he’s saying. This is what Paul is living in his life and the early church is living before the civil authorities.
We’re not fighting for our rights. We’re not, we’re not operating. Our weapons are not the weapons of the world. As Paul would say in Corinthians, Justin Martyr, in a second uh statement, he says this, Jesus has exhorted us to lead all men by patience and gentleness from shame and the love of evil. And this indeed is proved in the case of many who once were of your way of thinking.
But they changed their violent and tyrannical disposition being overcome either by the constancy, which which they have witnessed in their neighbor’s lives. That’s why people are coming to Christ or by the extraordinary forbearance they have observed in their fellow travelers when defrauded or wronged or cheated, or by the honesty of those with whom they have transacted business.
The early church says this is what sent the gospel forth. This is what enabled us to most influence our nation and influence the Roman Empire. It’s, we were people of humility and gentleness. And I was struck in the book by entitled The Son of Hamas, who was a, his father was one of the leaders of the Palestinian terrorist organization known as Hamas.
And as he describes its coming to Christ. He says this, driven by racism, hatred, and revenge. I was on my way to becoming one of those people. Then in 1999, I encountered the only true God. He’s the Father whose love is beyond expression, yet shown in the sacrifice of his only son on a cross to stone for the world sins.
He’s the God who three days later demonstrated his power and righteousness by raising Jesus from the dead. He’s the God who not only commands me to love and forgive my enemies as he has loved and forgiven me, but empowers me to do so. Humility and gentleness is the power of the Christian life. It’s forbearance, it’s forgiveness, it’s patience, it’s humility.
It’s surrendering ours that others can get theirs. And it also means this humility and gentleness in our champions. Be careful who your champions are, your heroes are. I recognize you can vote for someone. I’m not just tying this in the political arena and not make them your champions or heroes, but be careful who you are making your heroes.
Christians are called to a different methodology of influencing our world. Well, the other side has bullies. I want my bully. I want my politician to be a bully. I want my radio host to be a bully. Quite frankly, some people want their pastors to be a bully. Just tough, harsh, demanding. Get things done.
You have to have someone after all who can play by the world’s rules. Tough, ruthless, mocking, arrogant. It’s the only way we Christians are going to make a difference in the world. No, it’s not. You have God. The early church didn’t play that way. They didn’t need to because they believed they had a great God, a living God.
And they could act with humility and gentleness. They could stand by their convictions. They could vote by their convictions. They could, they could conduct their life with their convictions. They didn’t have to surrender any of those things. In your moral perspective, in in, in the things that are core to you.
As a Christian, of course, we don’t give up those, but our demeanor, our attitude, our spirit.
It is foundational and we can yield rights. We can live humbly. We can live respectfully with leaders we don’t agree with
because God’s our championed. He was the champion of the early church. He won. The Roman Empire was changed from the inside out. There was the, the fermentation that took place because of the humility of the early church. Paul had all the power credentials, yet he was a servant. Humble. Jesus had all the power credentials, and yet he said, I didn’t come to be served.
I came to serve.
If we wanna make a difference as members of Jesus Kingdom, we gotta live Jesus. It’s gonna count on culturally manifest. It’s gonna, it’s gonna go against the default mode of our own lives to respond. As these believers talked about in the first church, early church to to respond. I mean, today, if we were writing an apology for Christianity, Would you be able to write those things about Christians today?
Those that are naming the name of Christ, we forgive those that wrong us. We respond in gentleness. We seek the good of others. We are not fighting for rights. All the things they’re talking about. Could we say that today? That’s where I feel the crisis of the church is. There is a desperate hunger today for something big to pour your life in.
For the supernatural it is. Matter of fact, I could give hundreds of examples. I. From media to all kinds of, but what we offer is Christ the servant. Christ, the forgiving Christ. It’s what we bring. If we are going to be a part of influencing this culture and our community for Christ, we wanna live the Jesus life, all of us.
Let’s pray. Lord.
I wanna live that way. It goes against my grain. I’m a Ty a, I like to fight for things. I like to plan. I like to move out. I don’t, I get impatient. I am not by nature a patient man. I am not by nature a nurturing man.
But I want to be Jesus man, and I want our people to be Jesus people. So Lord, show us what that looks like in our lives. What does it mean to live humbly? What does it mean to show gentleness regardless of whether I’m the c e o of the company or, or the most recent?
Employee with, with no credentials whatsoever. Lord, help us to live in the power of Christ and to seek to change our generation, not by the weapons of the world or power that simply putting aside human credentials as our strength and our source. But rather resting in the grace and power of Christ. In whose name I pray?
Amen. Thank you.